Chesterfield Increased Procurement Opportunities

In FY08, Chesterfield County did a record amount of business with minority-owned firms. A total of $8,739,870 was spent with minority contractors. That represents 5.53%, another record, of the total dollars spent for goods and services of $158,173,606. Dollars spent with women-owned businesses totaled $4,588,614, more than double the previous fiscal year’s total. Lastly, purchases from Chesterfield businesses were 13.79% of the county’s total dollars expended for another record total of $21,806,891. These figures do not include new school construction or food purchases. By code, the Purchasing Department is not responsible for purchasing for either of these areas.

Michael Bacile, Director of the County’s Purchasing Department credits much of this success on the vendors themselves in competing for the county’s business. He does, however, also give credit to the effort that the entire Purchasing staff has provided to open the doors to minority-owned, women-owned and Chesterfield businesses. “Our outreach efforts in hosting the “Breakfast with the Buyers” sessions with our partners in Economic Development, participating in the ProcureCon ASIA program, attending Virginia State University’s Vendor Fair, hosting a booth at Henrico County’s Small, Women-Owned and Minority Business Opportunity Fair, and other initiatives throughout the year have had a positive impact on improving the numbers for FY08.”

“You can be assured that we will continue to be proactive in our efforts to increase opportunities for participation by a more diverse group of vendors, as outlined in our Diversity Initiative” says Mr. Bacile.